Why is it so important to perform all the details of halachah in such an exacting manner? Should not the focus merely be about our sense of devotion and love and care for one another? A deeper look into the genetic makeup and rivalry of the identical twins Yaakov and Eisav offers insight into this matter. (A lecture at the Jewish Women’s Retreat in Toronto in 2015)

Jacob and Esau wrestled with each-other while yet in their mother's womb. Their struggle, explain our Sages, was over possession of both this world – the physical, and the hereafter – the spiritual. But why the battle over both worlds?! Jacob desires the world of holiness and spirituality and Esau the sensual, material world. So what's to fight about? Each to his own! (Likutei Sichos vol 20)

The very name Yitzchok (Isaac) means joy. Yet Yitzchok is classically described as personifying the properties of discipline, awe and strict justice. How are we to reconcile these contrasting attributes and what is the lesson for our personal lives? (Likutei Sichos vol. 30)

When Yitzchak bestows the blessing of the first-born, rather than invoking the name of G-d associated with mercy and benevolence, he invokes the name of G-d associated with judgment and severity. This class will explain this oddity and offers an encouraging message for our times.

This portion begins with the verse, “These (Jacob and Esau) are the offspring of Yitzchak" but the Hebrew word for offspring (toldot) is missing a letter vav. Also, when it says that Rebecca is pregnant with twins, the Hebrew word for twins (te'omim) is missing a letter aleph.

The Torah records minute details about Rebecca’s first and only pregnancy. Did her twin sons, Jacob and Esau, have free choice to become who they wanted to be or were their personalities predestined from the womb?

The birth and development of Yaakov and Eisav was rife with inexplicable tension and conflict. Explore the genome, nature and nurture of these wrestling twins in the womb, and how their phenomenal twin birth may correlate with modern science.